Bugs in the Broccoli

[mike l]

The broccoli I buy often has worms and evidence of such.

I always buy the greenest of the green, but until you unwrap the contents you never know what you are buying.

My question here is one of pesticides and the health consequences related to this Country.

After 2 years of living in the DR I have never been sick other than the different strains of the Flu Virus.

Any comments about pesticides would be appreciated.

[Lambada]

As well as bugs in the broccolli you also get caterpillars in the cauliflower . Pesticides are used here. Must be a pesticide resistant strain of caterpillar.

Remember to put the worms in your compost heap.

[mike l]

Originally Posted by Lambada

As well as bugs in the broccolli you also get caterpillars in the cauliflower . Pesticides are used here. Must be a pesticide resistant strain of caterpillar.

Remember to put the worms in your compost heap.

Well, if there are catapillars in the Cauliflower, then I would rather wait for the Butterfly

[AnnaC]

If the worms are as green as the broccoli maybe they were not sprayed which is a good thing. All you do is fill the sink with water, add salt, broccoli and all the broccoli worms with float to the top. Scoop them out, rinse the broccoli well and you're good to go.

[bigbird]

Originally Posted by AnnaC

If the worms are as green as the broccoli maybe they were not sprayed which is a good thing. All you do is fill the sink with water, add salt, broccoli and all the broccoli worms with float to the top. Scoop them out, rinse the broccoli well and you're good to go.

AnnaC, I have always washed my green vegetables this way but what does the salt do?

[AnnaC]

Originally Posted by bigbird

AnnaC, I have always washed my green vegetables this way but what does the salt do?

In the case of the broccoli it seems to make the worms float to the top. We used to buy broccoli from a farm that did don't use pesticide and this is what they suggested.

[dv8]

back in poland i have once found a giant worm in cauliflower - my friend, who wanted a be a soldier ate it with full determination (out of laziness we did not wash the cauliflower before boiling and worm cooked along with it).
i do not think it's all that advisable in DR, thou...

[juanita]

I always wash my veggies in water with Purissima, it will kill even the invisible bugs.

[DrChrisHE]

We discovered that depending on how small (or in our case) or large you like your broc and cauliflower, you will probably still get some of those little green larvae even if you soak your heads. I think this is partly because we cook it in a Pampered Chef steamer and not boiling so the critters aren't boiled out. The first couple of times it is a bit unnerving. Once they are cooked there really is no big deal. It's not like biting into one of those LARGE larvae that gush in your mouth. If I've soaked and washed it well and it has been cooked, I try not to look TOO closely. My dh has the advantage of not seeing them as his eyes have changed to farsighted and he refuses to have his prescription updated! Our kids are another matter though and have taken to inspecting all their food.

One thing I found helps with extricating the critters is with your soaking to use 20 drops of grapefruit seed extract (GSE)...it also kills amoeba. We use GSE to wash all our vegies and fruits so that the skin can be left on, thereby increasing the fiber content of the diet here.

[snowbird44]

Very interesting. Where can you buy this GSE. It works to kill Amoebas?